She Quit
by slider23
Summary: She walked out the door and she wasn't sure she was coming back.
1. Chapter 1

Detective Kate Beckett stomped out of the Captain's office badge less and gun less. She had been short and ill tempered with Esposito and Ryan ever since Castle went gallivanting around with the other detective. She had finally lost it today with a suspect who was suspected of murdering a woman with a teenage daughter. Beckett was already on edge trying to push down familiar memories, when the suspect had asked her who had dumped her sorry butt. Ryan didn't have a chance to react when Beckett had turned around and punched the suspect in the face. Ryan had barely managed to prevent her from punching the suspect for a second time

She glanced back at the bullpen before getting on the elevator, but Esposito and Ryan were avoiding looking at her. There was not going to be any support from them, not this time. They knew she was in a free fall and had both gotten burned when they had tried to help her. Castle had obviously figured out she wasn't worth it. Why would her two friends care when the man who supposedly loved had left? The boys were going to distance themselves from here. They didn't want to be suspended or fired. But what the boys didn't know was that Kate Beckett hadn't been suspended or fired. No, Kate Beckett had quit.


	2. Chapter 2

Beckett finished securing the small duffle on the back of her motorcycle. She would have to figure something else out later, but for now it would work. She wondered how long it would take Lanie to show up at her door once she heard the rumors and subsequently learned the truth. Lanie seemed to be the only one willing to speak with her after Castle had left, and that was really only to tell her what an idiot she was. The boys had sensed early on that it was somehow her fault. She knew she had waited to long. She knew letting him in could end up hurting her, but she never imagined not letting him in would destroy her.

She checked her pocket confirming she had her wallet that held almost the entirety of her savings account and one emergency credit card. She didn't want to run the risk of being found. She knew that Lanie would convince Esposito into using police resources to find her. That is why she had also called her dad told tell him she was going on a vacation and that she would be unreachable for a bit. She had then left her phone on the counter in her apartment. She didn't want to be found, but really she was afraid that no one would look for her.


	3. Chapter 3

Castle rolled his shoulders as he poured himself some coffee in the break room. Slaughter had asked him to tackle a feeing suspect today while he held his gun on another. Castle had tackled the guy about a block away and had landed on his back. His shoulders were tight and his lower back ached. He was also a bit peeved that the guys they had captured were not the guys who had gunned down the young boy who had been forced to join the gang. It had just been a really crappy day and no matter how much he tried to forget Beckett it just wasn't happening. He missed being himself. Slaughter didn't seem to appreciate his humor and kept telling him to grow up. He missed the amused looks Beckett tried so hard to hide when he was just being himself. Slaughter didn't want him to be himself; no he wanted him to be a tough guy with no emotions. He was working hard on the no emotions part. "Maybe I should get lessons from Kate," he thought. He shook his head trying to get her face out of his mind.

"Castle, how's the back?" Slaughter asked, as he came into the break room, grabbing the coffee pot from Castle.

"Awesome."

"What did I say about that word, Castle?"

'Sorry."

"Yeah, well I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"Heard that muse of yours quit."

"She didn't quit being my muse. She was never my muse. Trust me. If she thought for a second I called her that she would break my legs. She use to be my partner not anymore though" Castle replied taking a sip of his coffee.

"Man you really don't know."

"Know what?"

"Castle, man, Beckett quit. Punched a suspect in the face and quit before Gates could fire her."

"You're lying"

"Ask your boys if you don't believe me"

After sweeping the bullpen with his eyes and noticing the boys weren't there Castle pulled out his phone and quickly dialed Esposito. "Is it true?"

Castle felt his legs wobble when Esposito confirmed what he was begging wasn't true. "Yeah, I can meet you at the Old Haunt in fifteen." Castle hung up the phone slowly sinking into the nearest chair. He noticed he had wandered out into the bullpen and had in act sat down in his chair next to Beckett's desk. He picked up one of the elephants that lined the desk. He wondered if Beckett would come back for them. "Why would you quit the job you love so much?" Castle muttered as he placed the elephant back on the desk. He stood and made his way to the elevator hoping the boys had some answers for him.


	4. Chapter 4

Castle slid into the booth next to Ryan. Esposito sat next to Lanie who was rapidly texting on her phone. "So, when were you guys finally going to tell me she was gone?"

Esposito looked up from looking over Lanie's shoulder and replied smoothly, "We weren't aware that you still cared about Beckett."

"Of course, I still care about her. I lo… Look, I care okay."

"You have a funny way of showing it." Ryan muttered taking a sip of the beer that hung loosely in his hand.

Castle went to reply to Ryan when Lane silenced him with one of her looks. "Look we are all worried about Beckett, and you boys need to stop acting so innocent. Castle may have dumped her first, but you were quick to follow his lead. And I never really asked her what was going on with her. I just kept telling her she screwed up."

Esposito grabbed Lanie's hand as she squeezed her eyes shut and looked away from everyone at the table trying to keep the tears at bay. "Look we all screwed up. Now the important thing is finding Beckett before she does something stupid."

Castle's eyes shot up. "You think she would do something stupid. She's Beckett she is pretty rational most of the time."

"Castle, this women, she isn't Beckett. Beckett doesn't punch people in the face then quit her job and take off. She doesn't lie to her dad and disappear on him."

"How hard can it be to find her? Can't you guys track her cellphone or credit cards?"

Ryan put his beer back on the table and answered before Esposito could, "She left her phone in her apartment. She almost completely drained her savings account and left all but one credit card in her car. Her motorcycle is gone and we tried to put an APB on it, but Gates shut us down."

"I hate her."

"I know we all do. Esposito and I called all our friends in law enforcement and there is an unofficial APB out on her, but if she left the state or heck even the country we would never know it. Gates is not letting us use any police resources. We are up against the wall."

"Well, it I a good thing I know who exactly to call." Esposito, Ryan, and Lanie watched intrigued as Castle pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "Agent Shaw, it's Castle. Yeah, I know the FBI has caller ID. I need your help. Beckett is missing."


	5. Chapter 5

Beckett slowed her motorcycle down as she realized she was pushing 90 on the highway at night. She hadn't driven like this since the last time she had found her dad passed out drunk. She hadn't had to worry about how fast she was driving. The one time she was pulled over her badge clipped to her waist did the trick. Now she was without that luxury.

She slowed down and looked around noticing the clouds blocking the stars. A sign ahead mentioned the up coming exit was the last one for 50 miles. She looked ahead and saw no clouds in the distance. She thought to herself that she had plenty of time to make it to the next exit.

40 minutes later she knew she had made a poor decision. The rain was beating down on her and there was not a bridge near for her to pull over underneath. The exit was about 10 miles ahead of her so she just kept going. The rain was blinding her vision so she slowed down considerable, but it wasn't enough. She cursed under her breath and tried to swerve around the black sedan that did not have its lights on. Her front tire slide off the road and she felt herself being thrown off the bike then everything went black.


	6. Chapter 6

Beckett slowly woke up. She groaned as she recognized the beeping noise coming from her bedside. She opened her eyes to find a nurse checking a drip going into her arm.

"How are you feeling dear?"

"Like an idiot?"

"Well, I won't argue with that. You young ones riding your motorcycles in weather like we had last night."

"It wasn't raining when I got on the bike."

"Well, at least you started out right. I've paged the doctor he will be here in a few minutes."

"What's wrong with me?"

"I think I'll leave that to Doctor David."

A man holding a clipboard walks into the room with a grin on his face. "Well, I knew my ears were burning." The nurse laughed patted Beckett on the shoulder and left the room. "Well, Ms. Beckett you sure are a lucky one. You took quite the spill on that bike of yours.

Beckett was about to interrupt him and tell him to call her Detective Beckett when she remembered that title no longer applied. "what's wrong with me?"

"Well, you were thrown off your big and it appears your right side hit before your head. You have two broken ribs. You didn't have any internal bleeding because you had slowed down in the rain. You have a mild concussion. And last but not least your right arm is broken."

Beckett finally realized why her arm felt to heavy. She hadn't really looked at herself and was still fuzzy when she had woken up. "When can I get out of here?"

"Well, I would like to keep you here another night to be safe."

"But I can leave if I want to."

"It would be against medical advice."

"Get me the discharge papers."


	7. Chapter 7

'So I found your girl" Agent Shaw said as she entered the break room were the boys, Castle, and Lanie sat.

"Where is she?" Castle said as he stood up.

""Let me finish." She said shooting Castle a dirty look. Castle sank back into his chair. "Ms. Beckett."

"Detective"

"I do believe the reason I am down here is to help you find a former detective that quit and has no disappeared. She is Ms. Beckett for now. Anyway, Ms. Beckett was in a motorcycle vehicle. My friends in the FBI couldn't get a copy of what exactly was wrong with her, but she did walk out of the hospital this morning. It was against medical advice, but I'm betting it honestly wasn't that bad and she has had worst.

"Wasn't that bad. She was in the hospital of course it was bad."

Captain Gates entered the break room papers in hand."Mr. Castle, I want you out of my precinct. Beckett is no longer here and I want you gone, and before you call up the mayor here is a copy of the e-mail he sent me granting my request. Esposito and Ryan you have exactly 10 seconds to get out of this break room and get back to work before I fire you. Agent Shaw I don't know what you are doing here, but unless you've got an official letter form the FBI I suggest you vacate the my precinct as well."

The boys both shot Castle an I'm sorry look before ducking out of the break room. Castle stood slowly Gates impatiently tapping her heel. "Any day now Mr. Castle."

Agent Shaw grabbed Castle by the shoulder and steered him out of the break room. "Old Haunt your office 30 minutes. My team will bring all your favorite equipment."


End file.
